The Gables Nursery

Baby and toddler care has its own base at The Gables Nursery, with the preschool across from it and settling sessions to help children make the next move. That gives this Willand setting a clear purpose: care for the youngest children, followed by a supported change of setting around age two.

Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding on 22 June 2022. The detail behind that judgement is more useful than the label alone: signing to support communication, books to borrow for home and everyday opportunities for children to do things themselves.

The nursery accepts children from birth to two years and has 18 places in total. It operates for 50 weeks each year, with a Christmas closure, making its calendar relevant to families seeking care beyond school terms.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care, bringing communication, movement and growing independence into everyday play and routines. Here, the June 2022 account showed how those requirements became practical experiences for babies and toddlers, rather than a timetable of formal lessons.

In June 2022, staff used signing alongside spoken language to support children's communication. Adults demonstrated words during interactions, giving children ways to express themselves while their speech developed. Activities followed a planned sequence, with staff assessing individual children and choosing what they should learn next. For parents, the useful distinction is between simply keeping a toddler occupied and choosing an activity with their next developmental step in mind.

Books were part of that June 2022 day throughout the setting. Children could select stories, and a lending library allowed parents to continue sharing books at home. During The Very Hungry Caterpillar, children acted out butterflies in flight: a concrete example of movement and storytelling being brought together. The lending arrangement also connected nursery experiences with something families could do together outside childcare hours.

Outdoor and Community Life

In June 2022, the garden gave children space to develop their movement and coordination. Watering plants, making towers and pouring ingredients for play dough offered different sorts of physical practice. Staff encouraged children to attempt manageable challenges, giving them opportunities to try physical tasks themselves.

The wider world also entered the nursery day in June 2022. Diwali activities included scarves and headdresses, introducing a celebration through materials young children could explore. Regular visits to local shops and farms extended learning beyond the nursery site. These were encounters with the surrounding community, rather than an isolated indoor programme.

In June 2022, Ofsted found that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), made excellent progress, and judged safeguarding arrangements effective. Those are dated judgements about the provision at that visit.

Relationships were supported by practical routines in June 2022. Children formed close attachments to staff, and adults allowed time for them to attempt everyday tasks. Finding shoes and putting on sun hats before garden play made independence part of getting ready, rather than a separate activity. For a toddler learning to manage small tasks, the pace of those routines matters.

Additional support in June 2022 involved staff working with outside agencies when a child needed it. Staff assessed children's development and selected next steps, while parents received information about progress and ways to support learning at home. That combination gave families a connection between what happened during nursery hours and what they could continue themselves.

Health and self-care were also woven into the June 2022 routines: children practised brushing their teeth and represented toothbrushing in play. At mealtimes, adults sat with babies and toddlers as they practised feeding themselves; children also helped prepare fruit and vegetables for smoothies.

Moving to preschool receives practical attention. Settling sessions are part of the current transition arrangement; in June 2022, children visited the preschool with their key person and practised changes such as using sleeping mats in place of cots. Preparing for a new routine as well as a new place is a useful detail for families approaching that move.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm from Monday to Thursday, with an earlier finish of 4.30pm on Friday. That Friday difference matters for parents organising a working week: the same collection time cannot simply be assumed across all weekdays.

The annual calendar covers 50 weeks, with two weeks of closure at Christmas. Families whose work continues through school holidays therefore have a different planning task from those seeking a term-time setting, while still needing to allow for the Christmas break.

Getting There

The address is The Gables Nursery, Gables Road, Willand, EX15 2PL. It occupies its own site across from the preschool's main building, keeping the baby and toddler provision physically separate while making the onward transition part of the setting's structure.

Enquiries can be made directly to the nursery on 07368192899 or through the main office on 01884 33711.

• Friday collection. The nursery closes at 4.30pm on Fridays, compared with 6pm on the other weekdays. Build that earlier finish into the working-week plan.
• The move at two. Care here runs from birth to two years, with settling sessions for the preschool transition. On a visit, discuss how those sessions would be arranged around your child's routines.

The Gables suits families seeking a dedicated baby and toddler setting with a planned move towards preschool, rather than one room carrying children through their whole early-years experience. Its own site and settling sessions give that progression a practical structure.

The June 2022 examples give parents concrete priorities to weigh: communication supported through signing, stories shared between nursery and home, and independence practised in ordinary routines. The 50-week calendar is another useful consideration. For working families, the earlier Friday finish deserves equal weight alongside those attractions.